This summer at the movies, Tom Cruise is back in the cockpit behind those iconic aviators. Doctors Grant, Sattler and Ian Malcolm are returning for another round with the dinosaurs. Natalie Portman is picking up Thor鈥檚 hammer. And Jordan Peele is poised to terrify us with the unknown. Again.
Hollywood is bringing out some of its biggest and most reliable players for the 2022 summer movie season, which unofficially kicks off this weekend with the help of Marvel and Disney鈥檚 鈥� 鈥� and runs through the end of August. It's an uncertain time for the movie business as studios and exhibitors are still making up for losses incurred during the pandemic and , including , competition from streaming and . And everyone is wondering .
But though the pandemic lingers on, there is optimism in the air.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still waiting for older audiences to come back. But it really feels like we鈥檝e turned a corner,鈥� said Jim Orr, the head of domestic distribution for Universal Pictures. 鈥淵ou get the impression that audiences want to be out, they want to be in theaters. I think it鈥檚 going to be an extraordinary summer.鈥�
Last week, studio executives and movie stars schmoozed with theater owners and exhibitors at a convention in Las Vegas, proudly hyping films that they promise will get audiences back to the movie theaters week after week.
Expectations are particularly high for 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥� which Paramount Pictures will release on May 27 of pandemic postponements. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer says he never waivered for a moment in wanting to release 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� 鈥� a full-throttle action film made with extensive aerial photography, practical effects and up to six cameras inside fighter-jet cockpits 鈥� exclusively in theaters.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the kind of movie that embraces the experience of going to the theater. It takes you away. It transports you. We always say: We鈥檙e in the transportation business. We transport you from one place to another, and that鈥檚 what 鈥楾op Gun鈥� does," Bruckheimer said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of built-up demand for some movies and hopefully we鈥檙e one of them.鈥�
The movie industry has already had several notable hits in the past six months too, including 鈥� ,鈥� now the third highest grossing film of all time, 鈥� ,鈥� 鈥� 鈥� and, though smaller, The hope is that the momentum will only pick up in the coming months.
Before the pandemic, the summer movie season could reliably produce over $4 billion in ticket sales, or about 40% of the year鈥檚 grosses according to Comscore. But , with theaters closed for the majority of the season and most releases pushed, that total plummeted to $176 million. Last summer presented a marked improvement with $1.7 billion, but things were hardly back to normal 鈥� many chose to either delay releases further or .
Now everyone is refocusing on theatrical, though slates are slimmer. The ticketing service Fandango surveyed more than 6,000 ticket-buyers recently and 83% said they planned to see three or more movies on the big screen this summer. And, not insignificantly, Netflix last month also reported in 10 years and expects to lose two million more this quarter.
鈥淔inally, it is movie time, with blockbuster after blockbuster after blockbuster after blockbuster,鈥� said Adam Aron, chairman and CEO of AMC Theatres, the nation鈥檚 largest theater chain. He touted 鈥淭op Gun 2,鈥� 鈥淛urassic World: Dominion," (June 10) and 鈥淭hor: Love and Thunder鈥� (July 8), 鈥渘ew film concepts鈥� like Jordan Peele's 鈥淣ope鈥� (July 22) and 鈥淓lvis鈥� (June 24) and family friendly offerings from 鈥淟ightyear鈥� (June 17) to 鈥淢inions: The Rise of Gru" (July 1).
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bold statement, but this summer could potentially be on par with 2019, which would be monumental for the movie industry," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.
Analysts are predicting 鈥淒octor Strange 2鈥� could open to $170 million this weekend, double that of the first film. Marvel and Disney then follow that with the new Thor, which picks up with Hemsworth鈥檚 character traveling around with the Guardians of the Galaxy after 鈥淓ndgame鈥� and wondering 鈥渨hat now?鈥�
鈥淭hor is just trying to figure out his purpose, trying to figure out exactly who he is and why he鈥檚 a hero or whether he should be a hero,鈥� said director Taika Waititi. 鈥淚 guess you could call it a midlife crisis.鈥�
The film brings back , who becomes The Mighty Thor, Waititi鈥檚 Korg and Tessa Thompson鈥檚 Valkyrie, and adds Russell Crowe as Zeus and Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. Waititi has said that it鈥檚 the craziest film he鈥檚 ever made.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great, really fun, weird little group of heroes, a new team for Thor with Korg, Valkyrie and The Mighty Thor,鈥� Waititi said. 鈥淎nd, in my humble opinion, we have probably the best villain that Marvel鈥檚 ever had in Christian Bale.鈥�
But superhero movies alone don鈥檛 make for a healthy or particularly compelling cinematic landscape. There have to be options for theaters to survive.
鈥淥ur business can鈥檛 devolve into just tentpoles and branded IP. We really need to continue to serve up as broad a slate as we possibly can,鈥� Orr said. 鈥淲e have something for every audience segment. Audiences are craving that and exhibitors are craving that.鈥�
Universal is proud of their diverse summer slate that includes a certain dinosaur tentpole, family animation, thrillers and horrors, comedies like 鈥淓aster Sunday鈥� (Aug. 5) and period charmers from Focus Features like 鈥淒ownton Abbey: A New Era鈥� (May 20) and 鈥淢rs. Harris Goes to Paris鈥� (July 15).
Jason Blum, the powerhouse producer and head of Blumhouse, hopes that Scott Derrickson鈥檚 supernatural horror 鈥淭he Black Phone,鈥� featuring Ethan Hawke in a rare villain role, is going to be the special 鈥渘ot superhero movie of the summer鈥� when it hits theaters on June 24.
There's more coming to theaters than just franchises. There are literary adaptations, like 鈥淲here the Crawdads Sing,鈥� with Daisy Edgar-Jones, non-stop action rides like 鈥淏ullet Train鈥� (July 29), with Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock, Baz Luhrmann's drama about the life and music of Elvis Presley, a mockumentary about a tiny seashell (鈥淢arcel the Shell With Shoes On,鈥� June 24), Regency-era fun in 鈥淢r. Malcolm's List鈥� (July 1) and creepy hair-raisers like 鈥淲atcher" (June 3), 鈥淏odies, Bodies, Bodies鈥� and 鈥淩esurrection" (both Aug. 5).
鈥淎nnihilation鈥� writer-director Alex Garland also has a new thriller, 鈥淢en,鈥� coming to theaters May 20. Jessie Buckley plays a woman who retreats to the English countryside for some peace following a personal tragedy only to be confronted by more horrors from the men in this quaint town, all of whom are played by Rory Kinnear.
As someone who makes challenging, original films for the big screen, Garland is a little worried about the movie industry and the seismic shifts that are happening under the surface that are 鈥減artly cultural and partly economic.鈥�
鈥淓very time an interesting film comes out and underperforms, I get a kind of gnawing anxiety about it,鈥� Garland said. 鈥淚f the only films that make money are for younger audiences, something cultural changes. Something changes about the sorts of films that get financed, why they get financed."
鈥淚t almost feels old fashioned or actually rather boring, but I do think there鈥檚 a value in cinema," he added. "A film like 鈥楳en鈥� functions differently in a cinema. Not being able to stop it until it鈥檚 ended means that it has a qualitatively different effect.鈥�
Streaming companies, meanwhile, are still going strong. Netflix has a massive 35+ film summer slate, including the spy thriller 鈥淭he Gray Man鈥� (July 22), directed by the Russo brothers and starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans and 鈥淪piderhead鈥� (June 17), with Chris Hemsworth. There鈥檚 a documentary about Jennifer Lopez (鈥淗alftime,鈥� June 14), an Adam Sandler basketball joint (鈥淗ustle,鈥� June 8) and a Kevin Hart/Mark Wahlberg buddy pic ("Me Time," Aug. 26).
Some of the most interesting titles from this year's Sundance Film Festival are being released by streamers too, including 鈥淕ood Luck To You, Leo Grande鈥� (Hulu), 鈥淐ha Cha Real Smooth鈥� (Apple TV+), 鈥淓mergency鈥� (Amazon,) and 鈥淎M I OK?鈥� (HBO Max).
鈥淪treaming has a place in the world, but it鈥檚 not the only thing in the world,鈥� said Blum, who is convinced that there is still an appetite for going to theaters. 鈥淭here were people out there saying the movies were over. I never thought that, but I was concerned about how much demand was left. But it appears that that part of our world is not going to disappear anytime soon."
For Bruckheimer, the equation is perhaps even more simple.
鈥淚t all depends on the movies. It鈥檚 always about the movies. If there鈥檚 stuff people want to see, they鈥檙e going to show up," Bruckheimer said. 鈥淚 always use the analogy: You have a kitchen in your apartment or home, but you like to go out to eat. You want a different meal.鈥�
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AP Film Writer Jake Coyle contributed from New York.
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Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
